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          NFL Nation

          Wait ... who?: NFL fans mistakenly recruit NPR's Eric Weddle

          • Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff WriterMar 6, 2019, 01:11 PM
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              Jamison Hensley is a reporter covering the Baltimore Ravens for ESPN. Jamison joined ESPN in 2011, covering the AFC North before focusing exclusively on the Ravens beginning in 2013. Jamison won the National Sports Media Association Maryland Sportswriter of the Year award in 2018, and he authored a book titled: Flying High: Stories of the Baltimore Ravens. He was the Ravens beat writer for the Baltimore Sun from 2000-2011.
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          For Eric Weddle, Tuesday marked a sad parting of the ways with the Baltimore Ravens.

          For another Eric Weddle, it was the most bizarre day of his social media life.

          Eric Weddle, the widely respected NFL safety, has the Twitter handle @weddlesbeard. It's a play on his signature facial hair.

          Eric Weddle, the education journalist for WFYI, a National Public Radio affiliate in Indianapolis, has the username @ericweddle -- which confused many eager fans looking to lure the six-time Pro Bowl player to their favorite NFL team. It caused this Weddle's phone to vibrate continuously for 10 minutes straight.

          "Trying to explain to my 6-year-old why my phone keeps buzzing. She seemed incredulous w/ the explanation," tweeted the Eric Weddle who recently made an hourlong radio documentary about Indiana's radical move to save failing schools.

          Fans mistakenly reached out to Weddle, an award-winning reporter who has a verified Twitter account, even though his profile pic clearly shows a clean-shaven man wearing glasses. By Weddle's count, he received about 200 tweets following his namesake's release from the Ravens, including three interview requests from media outlets.

          Weddle spent a chunk of his evening displaying a good sense of humor to those trying to recruit him to play for their teams.

          Want to join the Eagles? "No -- really despise all their songs," Weddle replied.

          How about capping off a great career with a Super Bowl win with the Chiefs? "Until tonight never thought about a Super Bowl win but now I’m like -- let’s do it!," Weddle wrote.

          Another pleaded for Weddle to join the Raiders. "Raiders was like first team I knew of cause Ice-T wore their gear, right?," he shot back.

          Someone else suggested Weddle's next team might have a star on the helmet. "Don’t know what this means but sounds cool," Weddle quipped.

          These two Eric Weddles couldn't be more different. The more famous Weddle is 34 years old and is a 12-year NFL veteran defensive back who has made more than 1,000 tackles and intercepted 29 passes.

          The other Eric Weddle ...

          "I am not a football or NFL fan at all," he told ESPN. "I think I’ve been to one NFL game -- Buffalo Bills -- when I lived by their stadium for a brief spell in high school. I don’t follow any college or professional sports."

          This Weddle, 42, prefers swimming. He does know about his football namesake, and the situation where he was fined $10,000 for staying on the field to watch his daughter perform at halftime made an impression on him.

          A colleague did give him the former Ravens player's biography, "No Excuses, No Regrets: The Eric Weddle Story" as a gift.

          "He cut out a photo of my face and stuck it on the book’s cover," Weddle said. "I keep the book at my office but have not read it yet."

          Over the years, Weddle has occasionally received tweets from people who thought he was the football player. It usually occurs on game days or when there have been contract issues.

          But nothing compared to the onslaught Tuesday night. Someone sent him a doctored image of himself as the Ravens' Eric Weddle and he used that as his Twitter photo for about two hours.

          Weddle interacted with NFL fans while he cleaned up the house and put his kids to bed. After 90 minutes, he told his new followers to stick around for Indiana education policy tweets starting at 9 a.m.

          Does NPR's Eric Weddle have anything to pass along to the NFL's Eric Weddle?

          "Don’t screw up the good name both of us have!" Weddle said. "I’ll do my part, too."